Together or Not at All
by TheWriter67
Summary: A mission gone wrong leaves Rachel injured, and Tom wanting to help her out. Tom x Rachel


Her lungs were burning, but she wouldn't dare stop running now. Rachel had been separated from the team Tom had assigned her to. The Russians had ambushed them, and Lt. Green had shoved her out of the gunfire and told her to run straight to the ship. She had to take the longer route they had agreed on before all the shooting had began, but she wasn't even sure if it was safe anymore. The Russians had spread out their troops to cover a lot of ground. Rachel really hoped Lt. Green and the others were okay. She didn't like being separated from them. Tom was going to be really angry with it. Rachel ducked under a tree branch and finally let herself stop. As she came to a stop to catch her breath, she turned around to look back. She could see smoke rising from the small town they had been in. Were her friends okay? Would she have to return to the Nathan James alone and tell the Captain about how the men had been killed? Rachel was about to continue on her way to the ship when she heard a click behind her. Her hand flew down to the gun strapped to her leg.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"You sure don't sound very Russian." Rachel said as she turned around. The man chuckled.

"No I'm not, but I struck a deal with them, so you might want to keep your hand off that gun."

"Not a chance." Rachel said as she pulled out the gun. Before she could point it at the man, he knocked her off her feet and had her hands pinned above her head. Her head hit the ground hard and she felt the air leave her lungs.

"Just behave and you just might live to see another day Dr. Scott."

"Why are you working with the Russians?" She questioned from her position on the ground. He seemed to consider answering her for a moment, but decided against it.

"None of your business. Just come with me and everything will be fine. They promised to treat you well Dr. Scott."

"I'll go." Rachel finally said. The man looked thoroughly shocked. "Well I can't exactly escape you right now can I?" He loosened his grip on her wrists and pulled her to her feet. He kept his gun pointed at her. Rachel kept her eyes on him. She didn't plan on going anywhere with this man. She would kill him if she had too.

"If you try anything, I will shoot you doctor."

"You're the one with the gun." She replied. He nodded his head for her to start walking. She kept her hands in his line of sight, but when he seemed to think she wasn't going to try and escape, she made her move. "Any chance you would allow me to chew a piece of gum? I'm sure the Russians won't let me have any."

"Is it in your pocket?"

"Yes."

"I'll get it. Don't move." He warned. Rachel nodded and raised her hands in the air.

"It's in my right front pocket." She watched as he stepped closer to her and started to reach for her pocket. When he was only a few inches away, she made her move. Her knee drove straight up and hit him right in the groin. He let out a pained cry, and Rachel took off sprinting through the woods. She knew he'd be chasing her quickly, so she didn't bother looking back.

"You bitch! I'm so going to kill you!" She heard him coming after her, but her feet kept moving. Adrenaline coursed through her veins. Rachel saw the ocean finally coming into view, but she would have nowhere to hide once her feet touched the sand. She quickly ducked behind a tree and waited. Something had to be done. She would have to fight this man and win or else the Russians would capture her, and the cure would never get around the world. Feeling the adrenaline and fear in her veins, Rachel prepared herself for what she was about to do. The footsteps were getting louder. She pulled a knife out of her boot and gripped it tightly in her sweaty hands. As he was about to pass her, Rachel tripped him and kicked the gun out of his hand and away from his reach.

"Leave me alone and I swear I won't hurt you."

"You couldn't hurt me if you tried!" He pushed himself to his feet and lunged at her. Tom had trained her in hand to hand combat for her own defense and right now she was glad for him forcing her to learn. She made a mental note to thank him later if she survived. Her eyes watched the man coming at her while she jumped out of his reach. Just as she was going to attack him though, her foot got caught on a fallen branch and tripped her. Luckily her hands were quick enough to catch herself before her face smacked into the ground. Rachel got to her feet just in time for her attacker to land a punch right to her face. The unsuspecting strike had her head reeling. She somehow managed to stay on her feet though and she took off towards the beach. She wouldn't trip on anything there she hoped. As soon as her feet hit the sand, arms reached out and grabbed her. The man tackled her to the ground and reached for her knife. She grunted and tried to shove him off her, but he was too strong. They fought for control of the knife, and soon the knife was in his hands. Rachel finally forced him off of her and tried to escape again, but as soon as she rolled over, a sharp pain shot up her leg. A cry erupted from her. Her head turned to see the knife protruding from her calf. The guy had a satisfied grin on his face. "What did I tell you?" He asked as he ripped the knife out of her leg. She screamed from the new wave of pain it brought on. Rachel watched as he started to move closer, and decided to try and knock the knife away from him. Her uninjured leg shot up and kicked him right in the face. While he was still dazed, she moved for the knife. When her hand was on the handle of the knife, he started to fight back. The weapon was in a constant push and pull between the two. They successfully managed to cut the other multiple times, but nothing more than flesh wounds. Rachel gained the upper hand when she forced the man onto his back and started pushing the knife down towards his chest with the entire weight of her small body baring down on him. He tried to push as much as he could, but his strength was wearing thin, and soon Rachel had managed to push the knife down into his chest. She fell completely against him when it happened. Too weak to move, Rachel just laid there getting soaked in the man's blood and trying to let her brain register what she had just done. She ended someone's life. Time passed by and she had no idea how much. The blood loss was starting to get to her, and she was just beginning to fall asleep when strong hands gripped her arms and legs and started to move her.

"Dr. Scott!" She recognized the voice, but she didn't want to open her eyes. She was too tired. "Dr. Scott! Stay with us!" Multiple voices began talking all at once. She moaned as a light was shone in her eyes. "Hey don't you dare die on us Rachel! Tom will have my head."

"Commander?"

"Yeah."

"You're all alive?" She murmured. He struggled to hear her, but he caught it. Mike patted her shoulder.

"Yeah and you had better stay that way too Doc. Open your eyes please." She heard more yelling, but she opened her eyes to see Mike staring down at her with worry. Her eyes fell on Danny who was putting pressure on her leg before she looked back at the man she had killed. Blood had soaked the sand around them. The knife was still embedded in his chest. Rachel felt sick before her eyes closed again. Mike started yelling again, but she was already unconscious. "Dr. Scott!"

… **...**

The first thing she felt when she came to was the immense pain throughout her body. When she opened her eyes she expected to be blinded by the light, but instead was greeted with the face of none other than Captain Tom Chandler. He seemed to notice she was actually awake and jumped to action.

"Doc! She's awake!" Rachel flinched at the sudden loud noise. Tom moved out of the way as Doc Rios moved to her side. He checked everything over before smiling at her.

"You're really lucky to be alive Dr. Scott." He grabbed a glass of water and handed it to her. "Drink this and then you can try to speak. I'm sure you're thirsty." She took the glass in her shaky hands and drank the water greedily. It felt refreshing the have the cold water go down her throat. Rachel handed the glass back before looking at Tom and then Rios.

"How am I alive?"

"Well...the XO and the rest of the team made it to you just in time. If they had found you any later you'd probably be dead. You had a serious leg wound. The knife nicked an artery, but Lt. Green managed to keep enough pressure on the wound until backup came."

"Wha..." Rachel began to speak, but the Captain held up a hand to silence her.

"Mike managed to contact us to tell us what happened. A team was sent out to find you. I along with the doc here, found you guys on the beach. Rios managed to close up the artery, but you still needed a blood transfusion. We got you back to the ship and got to work. Like he said, you're lucky to be alive doctor. Also, I'm sure you know I won't be letting you off the ship anytime soon."

"Okay." Rachel said as she looked up at the ceiling. Tom seemed baffled at the answer. It wasn't like her to give in so easily. Before he could speak though, Rachel sighed. "When can I return to my room?"

"Not for a couple more days." Rios said. She nodded.

"May I go back to sleep now Captain?" She kept her eyes off the men. Tom looked at the broken woman in front of him. She had multiple cuts and bruises covering her body and gashes ran along her arms. Rachel was a strong woman and it hurt to see her like this. Especially when it was his job to protect her. He had watched over her for the two days she had been unconscious, but he knew she was still drained. Tom decided to talk to her later.

"Of course. Feel better Dr. Scott."

"Thank you Captain." Rachel closed her eyes while Tom nodded for Rios to follow him. They walked out of the sickbay and Tom shut the door.

"If anything changes with her condition, let me know."

"Yes sir."

"Thanks doc. I'll be on the bridge if you need me. Dismissed." Tom turned and walked down the corridor with his thoughts. He wasn't able to keep her safe.

… **...**

Finally after two more days stuck in the sickbay, Rachel was able to go back to her room. She was of course put to bed rest, but she took that as advice not an order. Currently, she was trying to stand up so that she could make her way to the lab. She had plenty of work to get done. Rios had given her some crutches to use, but she hated them. They made everything difficult, but it was better than not being able to get around at all. She groaned as she sat on the edge of her bed. It hurt too much to move. She set the crutches down again and stared at the ground. A knock on the door startled her. She ran a hand over her face before responding.

"Come in." The door opened revealing two small bodies. She put on a smile for the kids. "Sam! Ashley!"

"Rachel! How are you today?" Sam quickly asked while Ashley set down a mug of tea on Rachel's bedside table.

"I'm doing wonderful. Thank you very much for asking Sam. Ashley is that tea?"

"Yep!" Ashley grinned and handed the mug over to Rachel.

"This is delightful Ashley. Thank you." She smiled at the kids in front of her before someone cleared their throat. Rachel looked up to see Tom standing in the doorway watching the three of them. "Hello Captain."

"Dr. Scott." He smiled at her and entered the room.

"Rachel? Would you read to us? Dad has to go work and we're bored." Sam asked.

"I would love to Sam." Rachel smiled at the boy. "Do you have anything you want me to read?"

"Well there is this one book...I just need to go get it."

"All right. You get the book and I'll read."

"Thank you! Come on Ashley!" Sam dragged his sister out of the room and Tom closed the door so he could talk to Rachel in private.

"How are you really doing?"

"I'm fine. I think I'll be okay Tom."

"You killed someone. It's difficult I know." Tom sat down beside her and grabbed her hand. "But you did what you had to do to survive. Everyone on this ship knows what that's like."

"I'd be dead if it weren't for your fighting lessons. I guess I'll take them more seriously from now on." She smiled at him softly. "I really am getting over the fact I killed someone though Tom. I'm just left wondering what kind of deal the man made with the Russians."

"We might never know."

"I wish I knew how they survived after what those bombs did to their ship." Rachel frowned at the floor. "They need to just go away already."

"I know, and we will get them Rachel. Especially after this. No one hurts Dr. Rachel Scott. You have an the entire Navy crew on your side." Tom grinned at her and she rolled her eyes.

"I'm pretty lucky."

"You are." He said quietly. "So if you're not upset about killing someone, what is bothering you?"

"I'm just frustrated. It's difficult to walk around and I have so much work that needs to get done in the lab and..." Rachel stopped talking when Tom placed a hand over her mouth.

"All you need to worry about right now is getting better Rachel. Rios put you on best rest."

"Tom..."

"No you need to take it easy. Please Rachel just rest."

"I don't like laying around. It's practically impossible for me." She complained. Tom sighed.

"You'll be able to move around soon. I'll even help you out okay? Plus I'll make sure you won't be too bored while you're stuck in bed. The kids love seeing you and I'll drop by whenever I'm free. We can work on getting you better and maybe I'll let you back in your lab. Deal?" Rachel sighed.

"Deal." She smiled at him. "Lean a bit closer Captain Chandler." When Tom did, Rachel kissed his cheek. "Thank you."

"You're welcome Rach." He'd help her out. She was alive and that was what mattered. He almost lost her, and that scared him. They were too important to each other. "We're in this together."

"Together or not at all. Our motto." Rachel leaned against him. Tom kissed her head as the door opened and Sam and Ashley ran in.

"We found it!" Sam held up his book and grinned.

"We'll I guess I'll let you guys get to it then." Tom said as he got up. "I'll see you guys later."

"Bye dad!"

"Bye Captain." Rachel said as Tom exited the room. She looked at the book Sam had chosen. "The Giver?" It was an interesting book for a child his age to read, but she guessed there wasn't much to choose from on a Navy ship. "Well let's get this started." Rachel laid down with a kid on each side of her. The three read until sleep overtook them. Later on, Tom had gotten a break and decided to go check on them. He'd smiled at the sight before covering them up with a blanket. Rachel was great with his kids, and he was glad they'd overcome the obstacles that had been between them.

"Together or not at all." Tom quietly left the room, and headed back towards the bridge. He was one lucky guy.


End file.
